Tsumo starting with NY
Shona Proverbs
- Nyakubika dombatomba anodya zvakaorera / ndidye-ndidye anodya zvimbishiSomeone who cooks the dombatomba plant properly ends up with food that is fit to eat, while the impatient eater gets it half-raw. Work done calmly and methodically pays off; work rushed brings little satisfaction.
- Nyakuravira ndiye anoziva kuti nyama yaibvaNobody can see inside another person's heart; each of us carries troubles that no one else knows about. Only the one who has tasted the thing can say how it really is.
- Nyama mazhanje / haitani kukuvaMeat goes the way of mazhanje fruit: it is gone almost as soon as it appears.
- Nyama mweni / haipedzi duraMeat is a guest in the home — however much of it you have, it is soon gone and leaves no trace, and it never eats through your grain store. No one can count on having meat with every meal; it comes only now and then.
- Nyama ndeyomubayi / vazhinji vapupuriThe one who did the killing owns the meat; everyone else is merely a witness to it.
- Nyama yakaoma / haigezerwiDried meat is eaten without first cleaning one's hands.
- Nyamagumba simidza minhenga yezizi / agoonekwa mumhindo.Get to know a person thoroughly, so that if he ever intends harm against you, you can spot it before he acts.
- Nyamakuhwa simidza nguo chena / agoonekwa mumhindoWhite clothing would serve a purpose on a gossip: even where there is no light, there would be no missing who it was. One who carries tales ought to be easy to pick out.
- Nyamusi handi mangwana. (M)Today is not tomorrow: everything shifts as the days and seasons shift. What a person holds now is not what he will hold later on.
- Nyika-mukanza haina mukwamboDo not take a wife from a family whose home and way of life are unknown to you. A marriage stands firmer when the wife comes from a settled, local family you can deal with.
- Nyoka haina chinyokanaThere is no such thing as a mere "little snake" — anything able to injure or kill is frightening no matter how small it is. Even a medicine man with all his charms fears a small snake, since everyone dreads death and injury.
- Nyoka inochenerwa chayo samaserweA snake receives its own kind hospitably, as the spotted skaapsteker does.
- Nyoka inoruma aidenhaThe snake strikes the very person who provoked it.
- Nyoka inorwiswa ndeiri musango / yapinda mumba chibata-bataA snake can be tackled safely while it is still out in the bush; once it has got into the house it is far harder to deal with.
- Nyoka yaina dukuHowever cheerful a person is, the smallest grievance settling in the heart can wipe out that happiness entirely. It takes no great calamity to unsettle someone — a minor upset is enough.
- Nyoka yapinda mumwena / hainyombwiOnce the snake is down its hole, leave off taunting it. Stirring up what lies quiet brings danger down on yourself; where a person keeps silent, even though you can see he is aggrieved, hold back from taking the matter up with him until he opens it himself. Honest intentions are no licence to prod a short-tempered person, or anyone apt to turn violent in the situation at hand.
- Nyoka yemvana / yakazvara mbavha nomuroyiThe same womb that bears a child can bring forth a thief and a witch; good parents may still produce bad offspring.
- Nyuchi dzinoruma / ngedzine uchiThe bees that sting are the very ones holding honey. The person who pushes others hard is usually the one whose ideas pay off, and hurt of body or spirit tends to come before comfort and joy.